Chapter 31: The Sword of Ijnus
The walls to the small tunnel that Ludus was now crawling through were rough on his hands and knees. The small canal was very long. Ludus had been traveling in it for almost ten minutes without arriving anywhere. It traveled downward with occasional curves to the left or right. A small opening could be seen far off now. Ludus was not exactly claustrophobic, but being in a tiny space for that long made him happy that he was finally near the sword. Several times he thought he heard a grunt or gasp behind him, but he could not turn and see if there was anybody there. He passed it off as his imagination and continued.
Eight minutes later he thankfully crawled out of the tiny space into a small room. A wooden door was the only thing in the room. He went through the door and breathed a sigh of relief. The first thing he saw was a sword. It was stuck in a small mound of dirt in the center of another small and plain room. The hilt was very ornate and had a ruby encrusted into it. Next he saw Mith standing nearby it. He ran to her.
“Oh, Mith,” he gave her a big hug. When he realized what he was doing he recoiled, “um, good job finding the sword.”
Mith looked different than she had when he had last seen her. Her face was shallow. It was obvious that she had been crying. Now she was smiling and as relieved as Ludus was.
“I did not know what to do, I was thinking of taking the sword, but then you would have frozen. I guess I should have left the rose with you.”
“Thanks for not leaving me to freeze.” He blushed slightly, though he was not sure why. “I thought for sure you were in trouble when you did not show up to the room. I would have been here sooner, but I fell asleep.”
“So did I; back up in that Forgotten Room.”
“I heard you saw your mom.”
“How did you hear that?” Mith asked, slightly embarrassed.
“Ijnus told me.”
“You met Ijnus?”
“Yep, he’s actually not that bad of a guy anymore.” Ludus suddenly looked behind him and mouthed “sorry” he was not sure if Ijnus was still with him.
Things looked to be finally turning around. The sword would fix everything. With something of full magic they might be able to bring their families and friends back. It was not certain though, there was no rule book for magic as far as they knew. Even if they would not be able to bring people back with the sword, at least they could go and take the other roses from Oldo. But then the problem of dark magic came to mind. Mitchum had told them that the reason Ijnus’s sword could not be turned to a rose was because its dark magic could not be controlled by the other four. Ludus looked to the sword but saw nothing that might indicate dark magic.
The two fourteen year olds looked at each other with strange expressions the other had never seen. Each finally considered the other a best friend. Before now they would have told someone that they were just friends. Something about being underneath an almost empty region while standing next to a large magic source usually did that to people.
“We should probably do this now, huh?” Ludus asked.
“I suppose so.” Mith replied.
“But what of the dark magic?”
“We have to try.”
They walked up to the sword and took in the moment that they would remember for the rest of their lives. Slowly they each clasped part of the ornate handle. “Ready?” They asked at the same time. They nodded. “One . . . Two . . . Thr—”
“Stop!”
Mith and Ludus both let go of the handle right before they pulled it out. A girl stood in the room with them. She had black hair and wore yellow. Behind her five more people came into the already crowded space. One of the people they recognized as the fake guard they had met in the forest. The group all dressed in yellow surrounded Mith and Ludus. The first girl walked to them, her hands up.
“Let’s not do anything too foolish now, kids.”
“Kids, what does that make you then?” Ludus asked; his heart racing.
“I am Vensa, and we are the minions. Now if you would not mind we are here to take Ijnus’s sword.”
Mith grabbed the sword hilt. All of the minions yelped for her to stop. “Do anything and you all are frozen.” She threatened.
Gyrd stepped up; he spoke with the soft voice he had heard Oldo use on people he wanted something from. “Please do not be stupid. If you take the sword we will –uh—kill you.”
Ludus also grabbed the hilt. “You’ll be frozen.”
Gyrd shook his head and pulled a golden rose from the pouch around his neck. The minions gaped at it. “If you pull it I will kill you. Now let me pull the sword for my master. And while we’re at it give me the rose around your neck, girl.”
“I have a name, boy.” Mith shot back.
The minions laughed at that. Each pulled out a dagger from their shoes or pockets and held it out in front of them.
“Only you have the rose. If we pull this it will be two on one.”
Vensa went to Gyrd and put a finger on the rose. “Two on two.”
The other minions all followed Vensa by putting a finger on the rose. Ludus took his hands from the hilt. Mith shot him an aggravated look. He returned it with a shrug of his shoulders.
“I’m sorry Mith, but two on five are not good odds.”
“We have to try.” She whispered to him. He replied with a wink. Mith hoped that meant he had a plan and also let go of the sword. “You can have it.” She said and stepped away. Ludus moved his head in a way to show that she should go over and stand next to him.
Vensa and the minions all went up to the sword and took grasp. “Are we ready for this?” She asked them, they all nodded or said “yes”.
While the others were busy admiring Ijnus’s sword Ludus took the rose from the pouch around Mith’s neck and put it behind his back. Mith asked what was going on with her eyes and Ludus nodded for her to relax.
Gyrd held his hand out. “Now the rose.”
Ludus touched Mith’s back with the rose. She put her hands behind her. Ludus shoved the bulb of the rose into her hand. “Take us to Oldo. We will give you the rose only if he unfreezes our friends and families.”
Gyrd narrowed his eyes. “Who are you? Where are you from?”
“My name is Ludus, and this is Mith. And we are from Rerum.”
“Ludus from Rerum give me the rose or you will not ever be leaving this room.”
There was nothing else they could do; each knew there was only one way out of their predicament alive. Ludus took his thumb and pressed it as hard as he could against the rose, right under the bulb. The rose snapped instantly. It did not take as much pressure as he thought, though the sound echoed throughout the small room. Everyone looked.
What happened next Ludus would later call “the greatest feeling ever”. A surge shot throughout their entire bodies. Every inch of them tingled and shook for only a second. Their bodies were instantly transformed. Tired and heavy muscles became healed of all fatigue. It was as if their souls were drenched in a wave of magic. And for one instant it felt as if their feet had left the floor. The parts of the rose in their hands pulled like magnets toward each other. Afraid re-uniting the rose would take the magic back from them; they put the pieces into their pockets.
Gyrd watched with fear as they absorbed the magic. The minions even stopped petting the sword when they felt the sudden change.
“W—what have you done? The magic, you took it.” Gyrd said his eyes wide from disbelief.
The magic gave Mith and Ludus more courage than they ever had before. When Ludus spoke, he spoke fearlessly, as if to a cloud in the sky: “Take us to Oldo, or we will use our magic.”
Gyrd saw a definite change in how the small blonde boy acted and was slightly afraid. “You have no idea how to use that power.”
Ludus was about to respond when he felt a rush in his head as if moving very fast. His eyes lost focus of everything. Soon things came back into focus, but it was different. He
was no longer standing in a room with Mith and Gyrd, but with many people he did not recognize. They were all outside in a desert. Several fires were burning in pits around the crowd. The people all stared at Ludus as if expecting something they had been waiting for. He tried to move but could not, he could not even talk, only watch. His eyes then moved without his control, back and forth scanning the crowd.
Suddenly someone came into view directly before him. It was a woman. She wore blue robes of the finest quality. Her mouth moved excitedly but Ludus could not hear her. Someone else was in his mind. They thought of the person and Ludus heard her name, Altis. She was much younger than in the picture he had seen in the palace. Her long dark brown hair went all the way down her back. Soon she left his eyesight. Ludus, or whoever he was seeing through, nodded several times and looked to his feet. He was wearing green shoes that were Lwid’s terrible shade of green.
The eyes moved to the right and Altis came back into view, along with three others. One was Ijnus. He also looked much younger. He was quite handsome in his youth. A wide smile stretched across his face as he looked back to Ludus. Next to him was Altis and next to her were another man and woman. Immediately Ludus knew who they were. The woman was Rerum. She had long blonde hair and a good natured, pretty face. The man who stood next to her was Portur. He had dark blonde hair, almost brown. They all looked so happy for some reason. Ludus looked back to the crowd and spoke. He could hear his own voice; his voice was one he had heard in the mountain. At that point it dawned on Ludus; he was seeing the world from Lwid’s eyes from many years before.
“For those of you that do not know me my name is Lwid, lord of . . . well that does not matter anymore. This land is ours now, all of ours. The horrible memories of our past are no more, but do not forget them. He made us weak, we will now be strong. He made us forget; now we will remember. Our past makes us who we are and we should accept that.” He paused and looked to the other lords and ladies; they each waved their arms for him to continue. “I am sorry; I do not mean to dwell on the past. Now is the time for the future, now is the time for us all to come together as one. The others and I have come up with a name for this land, we call it Parli. It is our home from here on out . . .”
Ludus felt the rush once more and was transported back to the palace. He came back to his own senses with a gasp for breath. Nothing had changed in his absence, Mith still stood beside him as Gyrd still stood in front of him. The minions still stood around the sword, watching him.
What was that?
What!
Ludus looked to Mith. She was staring at him with wide eyes. Ludus had just heard her in his head. Gyrd looked at the two of them, concerned.
“Hey, you two, what’s going on?”
They both ignored him and tried to communicate.
Can you hear me? Mith thought.
Yes, Ludus replied.
“That’s it, take the sword.” Gyrd barked to the minions.
“Everybody grab on.” Vensa ordered. With all the minions on the sword they pulled. It took much effort for the five of them but the sword slowly came up. With one mighty grunt they pulled the sword clean from the dirt it sat in. A light shone from the dirt as the mound collapsed. A rumble was felt all around, growing stronger. A strange grinding sound was heard from above. Mith looked to Ludus, he seemed scared, but for more than the reason at hand. She tried to decipher the feelings in his blue eyes, but could not. She looked to the others trapped with them.
“Put it back!” Mith shouted to Vensa.
Vensa pointed the sword at Mith. “Never!”
The minions ran to the door with the others following. Hatchet led the way back into the small opening. There were no enemies as they heard a loud crashing noise behind them in the room they just left. Each climbed up the small tunnel as fast as possible.
Mith, Ludus thought, we need to get that sword. We can take it through the distractions.
Let’s think about that later. Mith thought back.
This time around the tunnel did not seem quite as long to Mith and Ludus. It seemed that it only took a minute to get half way. The others felt that it was taking hours, and they still weren’t there. Ludus took up the rear and could hear a strange noise beneath him, some kind of rushing sound. He tried to look back but could not. It grew louder and louder until the grinding and rumbling could not be heard. Without warning he was covered with sand pushing upwards. The sand engulfed all of them and shot to the exit.
Mith and Ludus held their breath with ease through the sand, the others were not so lucky. The minions and Gyrd felt about ready to burst when they were thrust from the entrance and onto the floor of the Forgotten Room. Sand shot from the tunnel and quickly started filling the space. Together they all ran for the large doors. The magic had not yet fully drained from the room; remnant magic started forming objects all around them. All the objects were transparent. Ludus saw his sand and Mith saw remnants of her mist. As he ran Ludus thought he saw a ghostly figure of Ijnus watching him. The figure seemed to nod as Ludus passed by. Other things that appeared were: the wall of a stone house, a small tree with no limbs, and a throne. Ludus did not have time to match each object with all of the people, but he assumed the throne belonged in Gyrd’s mind.
The doors did not open when they arrived at them. Hordna and Creen banged their fists uselessly while Vensa waved the sword in front of it. Hatchet and Gyrd could not get to the doors, so they tried to shout orders from behind. Mith and Ludus felt that they knew what to do. They simply walked up and the way cleared. The others waited to see if they could do something. Mith and Ludus each took the handle and pushed as hard as they could. The door opened, whether from the magic or from the force was unknown. After everyone got out they closed the doors behind them. The only sounds now came from the people, each huffing and puffing except for Mith and Ludus.
“Thank you, but we are still enemies.” Vensa said as she pointed the sword at Mith and Ludus. “Legend says all we have to do is kill you and the magic will come out.”
Gyrd put his hand over Vensa’s and pushed the sword down. “We need them alive, the magic may go into the floor and not into us. We are in no need to take chances.”
Vensa lowered the sword but motioned for the other minions to circle Mith and Ludus. They took out their daggers and snarled. Only minutes before Mith and Ludus would have thought their appearance frightening, but now they were the frightening ones. The magic was still mostly unknown to them but they were certain that they could do more than read each other’s minds.
What do you want to do? Ludus asked through thought.
We need to get to Oldo; we need them to take us.
“Alright, let me tell you how this will work.” Mith said to her captors. “We will go with you without a struggle to Oldo the coward, then –”
“How dare you call him a coward?” Gyrd spat.
“Hey, boy, do you see him here doing anything dangerous? I don’t, he’s back at the jail like he does not want to get his hands dirty. Now take us there and we can sort this out with him.”
Gyrd frowned but did not say anything. He pointed down the hall and started walking. Vensa followed right behind while the minions took their positions around Mith and Ludus. Hatchet and Creen were in front, the ever twitching Gubba and Hordna took up the rear, daggers out.
The palace was no different since the magic was gone. The fires had been lit at some point by the magic and were still going. The strange shadows that Ludus had been afraid of several days earlier were back. They did not scare him now, now he saw designs and interesting patterns in them. The palace was built without using magic so it would not collapse without it. The only difference was that the hallways were back to the way they originally were, wishing to be somewhere would not work now. The stairs were found with some confusion as to which halls to turn down. Once on the first floor they went straight for the doors. Vensa ordered Hatchet to find food and he ran off in the wrong direction.
While in the hall with the pictures Vensa knocked down the paintings of the other lords and ladies with the point of Ijnus’s sword. Ludus thought of telling the minions how Ijnus really felt about what he did, but decided that could be used to his advantage later if he needed it to.
The main doors were still open; they were opened further so the formation could get out without giving a chance for Mith and Ludus to get away. Some sand had already gotten to the surface of the ground and was blowing in the night air. The temperature was already falling. It was hard to see in the dark, the bright stars were the only source of light except for a small amount emitting from the sword and the inside pocket in Gyrd’s yellow uniform where he now kept the rose. He noticed this and pulled the rose from his pocket for more light. The rose shined down on all of them in the darkness. It proved a good light source, though it only lit twenty paces in all directions. There was silence as they waited for Hatchet, but a full conversation was going on right under their noses.
Hey, Mith.
Yeah.
I think we have some connection to Lwid now.
How do you know?
Back in the sword room I was suddenly transported back to when Parli was founded. The other lords and ladies were there, it was incredible. I could not hear anything but what Lwid said, though. He was giving a speech somewhere in Parli; I think it was right where the palace now sits. Then I was transported back as if nothing happened. Did you notice anything?
I noticed you suddenly gasped.
That was when I returned. My theory is that since we each got magic from the same source we now have a connection with each other and with Lwid.
That explains why we cannot hear their thoughts.
If I can see what he saw, I wonder what you have.
I guess I’ll find out. When I do I’ll tell you.
Hatchet returned several minutes later with a large sack. It took some time for him to find the kitchens but after he did he cleared out anything he could find that would not go bad over night. Gyrd had been mentally making plans and relayed them to the others.
“We will set out immediately for the bay. The last of the horses and carts was taken this morning, so we will have to walk. With rests it will probably take us two days to arrive.” He turned his attention to Mith and Ludus. “And then the magic will be Oldo’s.”
Gyrd led the way from the palace grounds, the rose held high. The minions followed while encompassing the magical kids. Daggers extended, they tried not to talk for the first leg of the journey back. The forest had vanished and with it the chatter of trees. With every step the sand grew under their feet, soon it was as if in a desert. The temperatures dropped with the trees. Clouds emitted with every breath exhaled. Soon they all were shivering from the cold. The darkness pressed in on all sides of the glowing rose. Where the rose light ended the night began. Nothing could be seen outside of its rays.
Mith and Ludus wondered what new things they could do with the magic. Every now and then Ludus would try and shove Hatchet or Creen who walked in front of him, without actually touching them. It did not work but it gave him the idea to try and do things that he thought magical. After ten minutes he knew that he could not do, or did not know how to: fly, vanish, shoot lasers, warm the air, or freeze anybody around him. Being the first people since the lords and ladies to have magic inside of them made them believe that they were now capable of wonderful things, besides what was already figured out. Ludus tried to see another one of Lwid’s memories, but he soon realized that it would be entirely random if it happened again.
There was no indication as to when they entered the Bay Region. With no forest trail they did not cross into the region where the sign was. After walking for an hour with no talk and very little light, Gyrd stopped for some sleep and food. Hatchet took some food from his sack and divided it out for everyone, Mith and Ludus got significantly smaller portions. They each received a piece of bread and a small clay bowl of water. Once finished, Hordna started a fire and started roasting rabbits; she was placed on first watch and was told not to let them out of her sight. Mith and Ludus continued their conversation after everyone fell asleep.
Have you found out what you can do yet? Ludus thought.
Not yet. How about you?
No luck, I’ve been trying everything but it isn’t working.
I have an idea.
Mith looked over to Hordna. “Excuse me.”
Hordna was staring at them the entire time. “Ya, what?”
“How old are you?”
“How old are you?” Hordna retorted.
“Fourteen.”
“Oh,” Hordna did not think that Mith would actually tell her age. “I’m sixteen.”
Ludus jumped in. “That’s young, why are you hanging out with these weirdo’s.”
“Me and Vensa are the same age.”
Mith looked to the sleeping figures near her. Gyrd was farthest away and had the rose back in his pocket. Mith was trying to remember the names of the others that she had overheard them say. All she could remember was that one had a name that sounded just like something her father said when he got mad and another sounded like a cheese. She suddenly remembered.
“How about Gouda?”
“Gubba.”
“Whatever.”
“He’s eighteen, Hatchet is seventeen, and Creen is twenty seven.”
“Old timer.” Ludus mumbled to himself.
“So why did you join?” Mith asked, not really wanting to know.
“I was born and raised in Ijnus so I knew of the strange, almost warship of the man, Ijnus. I wasn’t feeling it too much until my mom died. My dad left shortly after and never came back, rumor is he killed himself. So anyway I was all alone and that’s when I met Hatchet, he introduced me to Vensa and the rest is history.”
Mith felt a sorrow for Hordna. “I’m sorry about your parents.”
“You can’t change the past; you can only . . . well . . . live with it.”
The idea of simply living with her mother’s death never occurred to Mith. She was no longer feeling as courageous as before, that was only temporary. Instead she felt just as she had before gaining the magic. Her mother’s warm face in the Forgotten Room came to her mind. She wanted to see her again but knew she could not. The want grew for a moment and then subsided. Mith now felt courage on her own to try and live with what happened to her mother. She remembered quickly that Ludus had access to her thoughts and looked over to him. He lay on the ground, eyes closed. Mith hoped that he was not just pretending to be asleep so it would look like he did not hear.
Hordna brought her legs up and held her knees. The fire to her right lit up her features on half of her face. The other side remained in shadows. The cooking rabbit sat skewered over the fire. “Sometimes I wonder why I joined. But then the answer comes to me.”
“What is it?”
“These people are my family.”
Mith nodded slowly. “Family is important. I don’t know what I would do without my dad.”
“What of your mom?”
“No longer with us.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It does not hurt as much now. I saw her, in the Forgotten Room. You know the room that all the sand was in.”
“I did not see anything in that room that was mine, both times we all ran in together.”
There was silence. The fire crackled in the frozen night. Mith moved nearer to the fire to get warm. She sat next to Hordna. There was a rustling behind them. They both looked and saw Hatchet leaving the light into the woods with a dead rabbit in his hands. He came back several minutes later. Both Mith and Hordna were staring at him.
“What? It was the last one; I don’t want it to go bad; I buried it in the sand.” Hatchet then returned to his spot in the sand and went back to sleep.
Mith struck up another conversation. “That was nice of him.”
“We aren’t bad people.”
&nbs
p; “You have us as prisoners as we go to the place where your leader is trying to take over Parli. And if I am not mistaken there is blood on Vensa’s uniform.”
“Ok, so some of us are worse than others.”
Mith decided it best to finally ask what was on her mind. “This may sound strange, but what do you know of Lwid?”
“Besides that you have his magic in you.”
“Yeah, besides that.”
“You’d have to ask Vensa to get the details, she knows about all of the lords and ladies. I only know certain things.”
Mith pressed on. “Do you know of his abilities? Did he even have abilities?”
Hordna stared ahead as she spoke, the fire illuminating the half of her face that Mith saw. “Stories tell that they all had certain abilities and powers. Those stories are rarely told, I’m not sure why.”
Mith knew the answer, whether by the magic or by some unconscious knowledge, she was not sure which. “They did not want others to try and take their magic. They were afraid of that more than anything, especially after Ijnus turned.”
“Huh, I never thought of it that way.” Hordna stretched her legs out in front of her and sighed. “All I know is that Lwid had some kind of power, they all did.”
“You don’t know what kind of power?”
“No, sorry.”
The conversation ended abruptly. Gubba awoke and took his turn as night watch. Mith thought of asking Gubba some questions but thought he was the strangest of all the minions and decided against it. Not wanting to seem rude, she did not move when he sat next to her by the fire.”
“Nice night, what do you think?” Mith asked to be nice.
“Yes, yes, well, no, maybe not, it’s too c-cold.”
Mith waited another minute before going back near Ludus. She watched Gubba for a while, his thin body twitched horribly. After a while Mith lay back and tried to go to sleep. The stars shone rather dimly down on her. Her eyes closed slowly while trying to count as many as she could.
The conversation with Hordna had changed Mith’s perception of evil. She had seen the minions as evil, thinking that no good could come from those working for Oldo. But during her talk something changed in her opinion of them. Her final assumption was that they were not bad, just confused. Their love for Ijnus, which was strange in itself, made them think too much. When Mith thought too much she started doubting the original thought. Even when she thought of good things, it was poisoned when thought carried too far. Once she had seen a small crab on the pink sand beach of Rerum. The crab fought another crab and won, through the killing of the other crab. She had originally thought the first crab killed the second unintentionally, but after pondering the event for several days she had come to the conclusion that the first crab must have been evil. This perplexed her greatly. This path led to many headaches and heartaches when thinking of the second crab. The minions must be just over thinking their current position. They believe that they must follow Ijnus, but that means not following the path their hearts choose. So then they were not really evil. But then what is evil?
Maows described evil as anything that harmed another of its own kind intentionally, and that is what Mith believed. Now though, nearing sleep, she went back to that day when the crabs fought and found a new explanation. Perhaps the first crab was only protecting what it had, it’s territory. Maybe the minions worked the same way. They were just protecting what they had, each other. When one believed something the others would follow. So when Vensa decided to follow Oldo, the others agreed through their familiarity with following Vensa.
This thought kept Mith awake, so she dropped it from her mind until the next day. She was not sure how a group of misfits had stupefied her. Finally Mith did clear her mind of the minions and fell asleep. Several times during the night she awoke and looked around. The first time Gubba was still by the fire, looking at the sky. The next time Hatchet was near the fire. The third time it was Vensa by the fire. She gazed upon Mith with unwavering eyes. After that Mith could not get back to sleep.